$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School

[BeyondGeography]

Link to tweet

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The 93-year-old widow of a Wall Street financier has donated $1 billion to a Bronx medical school, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with instructions that the gift be used to cover tuition for all students going forward.

The donor, Dr. Ruth Gottesman, is a former professor at Einstein, where she studied learning disabilities, developed a screening test and ran literacy programs. It is one of the largest charitable donations to an educational institution in the United States and most likely the largest to a medical school.

The fortune came from her late husband, David Gottesman, known as Sandy, who was a protégé of Warren Buffett and had made an early investment in Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate Mr. Buffett built.

The donation is notable not only for its staggering size, but also because it is going to a medical institution in the Bronx, the city’s poorest borough. The Bronx has a high rate of premature deaths and ranks as the unhealthiest county in New York. Over the past generation, a number of billionaires have given hundreds of millions of dollars to better-known medical schools and hospitals in Manhattan, the city’s wealthiest borough.

Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/nyregion/albert-einstein-college-medicine-bronx-donation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[Think. Again.]

1. My deepest gratitude to Dr. Ruth Gottesman.

[dlk]

2. What an incredible gift!

Dr. Ruth Gottesman comes from an earlier time, when more Americans believed in, and were committed to the public good. Her generous gift will benefit the community in countless ways we can’t even imagine.

[mucifer]

3. NO ONE should have that much money. BUT, glad there is one billionaire is a good person.

Kudos to her.

[BigMin28]

4. A good deed

and an act of kindness that will resonate for generations.

[brer cat]

5. Outstanding donation and purpose.

[ratchiweenie]

6. She sure looks great for 93. What a gal!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. This is an amazing act of generosity.

[et tu]

8. musk, bezos, koch, crowe etc.

who's next? come on fellas, you 're competitive- give to higher ed.

[niyad]

9. Kudos to Dr. Gottesman! A truly remarkable gift.

And here I thought that the recent 18 million bequest to my college was impressive!!!

[Old Crank]

10. That should fund students in perpetuity

A 4% return on a Billion is $40 million per year. That should be enough to cover students, just under 1,300 total counting undergrads, at around $30,000 per year.

Bravo.